Action against Tom Jose once report received, says Chief Secretary

New Delhi: Chief Secretary S M Vijayanand on Saturday said that required action would be taken if the report in the disproportionate assets case against senior IAS officer Tom Jose is received.

The Chief Secretary, however, said he was yet to receive any reports against Jose, who is the Additional Chief Secretary (Labour).

Vigilance sleuths had on Friday conducted searches at the residence and office of Jose in connection with disproportionate assets case, even as the official denied any wrong doing and described it as "deliberate" attempt to tarnish his image.

A day after Vigilance and Anti Corruption bureau filed an FIR in the Mutvattupzha court, officials armed with search warrants conducted simultaneous searches at the flats of Jose at Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and his office at the State Secretariat. The house of his wife at Irinjalakuda in Thrissur was also searched.

The FIR alleged that the officer had committed offence punishable under Prevention of Corruption Act.

Reacting sharply to the development, Tom Jose said the case had been inquired by the Home Secretary much earlier and had been closed. "All these allegations were examined by Home secretary earlier and I had given my property statement from 2010. There is nothing new. This is a deliberate attempt to humiliate me", he said adding they (vigilance) have come with a search warrant with yesterdays date.

"This is orchestrated attempt to humiliate me. A thread bare inquiry had been conducted and it was dropped saying there was no basis. Government dropped cases after filing Government Order", Jose, who is the President of the Kerala IAS Officers Association, said describing the searches as "vendetta to tarnish my image".

The Vigilance sources said the "house search" was conducted after it was found that the official had "amassed" assets about 62 per cent more than his income. Vigilance had last month decided to conduct a confidential verification into the allegations raised by a complainant about various assets of Jose, including the purchase of a rubber estate at a cost of about Rs One crore at Sindudurg in Maharashtra. The officer said there was nothing "unnatural" in the land deal.

Thursday, Jose and another senior IAS officer had met the Chief Secretary, reportedly to express their displeasure over the vigilance "inspection of the flat of Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) K M Abraham. Abraham had also written to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan alleging that state Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau Director Jacob Thomas was acting "vengefully" against him.